Govt looking at death penalty in ’rarest of rare’ rape cases

Mangalore Today/ NDTV

New Delhi, Dec 22: As India seethes with anger over the gang-rape of a young woman in a Delhi bus, the government  has said it will ask for changes to criminal laws to introduce the death penalty for "rarest of the rare" sexual assault cases.

Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde also said that a judicial commission is being assigned to evaluate the response by officials to the heinous attack and suggest how to improve the safety of women.

 

For now, he said, the government is adding more public buses at night for Delhi, and that all buses will be equipped with GPS tracking systems, allowing their movement to be monitored.

In Delhi, hundreds of protesters spent the day near Rashtrapati Bhavan and India Gate demanding that representatives of the government explain what is being done to make the capital safe for women. The police teargassed the crowd and used water cannons when some protestors tried to break through the police barricades. Mr Shinde asked protesters to stay calm.

In the evening, Congress President Sonia Gandhi phoned the Prime Minister and Home Minister to demand that quick and appropriate action be taken, sources said.

Mr Shinde said that five policemen have been identified for dereliction of duty on the night when the student was raped and action will be taken against them.

He reiterated that the government will ask for a fast-track trial with daily hearings for this case. 

Yesterday, Home Secretary RK Singh provoked outrage when he said that the police in Delhi "have no reason to be defensive" because they had identified and arrested the six men who assaulted the girl.

 

How youth power converted Raisina Hill into a battle zone


New Delhi: At night, there were a few thousand people on a chilly winter night holding candles at India Gate.

Some carried placards that had slogans like "stop this shame"; others chanted slogans demanding better safety for women, the agenda declared by an outraged country after a young medical student, Amanat (NOT her real name), was raped by six men in a Delhi bus last Sunday.

 

The fragile calm at night followed a day of fierce hostility and clashes between the protestors and the police. On Sunday, four metro stations near India Gate - Patel Chowk, Udyog Bhavan, Race Course and Central Secretariat - will remain closed from 6 am till further orders as a form of crowd-control. 

The protestors  gathered at India Gate and near Rashtrapati Bhawan by 10 am on Saturday. As the numbers grew, so did the resentment that nobody from the government chose to address them.

A little before 11 am, a group of unruly protesters began running towards Raisina Hill, where several ministries and the Prime Minister’s Office are located. When they pushed aside the barricades there, the police used tear-gas and water cannons.

In an  attempt to check the tension, a small group of people was invited at noon into Rashtrapati Bhawan. They were met not by President Pranab Mukherjee but his aide.
 
Where is the government, asked irate demonstrators.

"It was a complete case of insensitivity," said former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee said, criticising the Prime Minister for failing to meet with the demonstrators.

At 3 pm and then again at about 6 pm, there were more clashes with the police. Both sides threw stones.
 
Senior opposition leader LK Advani phoned the Home Minister, urging him to instruct the police to show restraint.